The present invention relates to training devices and in particular to training devices for weapons operators. More particularly, the present invention may be described as a training device for aiding weapons operators in identifying thermal targets as friend or foe.
Armed conflict is a sophisticated technological confrontation, with the protagonists pitting their best against one another. Toward this end, all-weather warfare has developed such that technology has given weapons operators the ability to "see" through darkness, haze, smoke, or other atmospheric obscuration. The images which these operators "see" are the infrared signatures given off due to the thermal emissions of equipment and personnel. Those images do not exactly correspond to the optical images normally detected by the eyes; therefore, the weapons operator must be trained to discern between the thermal images and make judgment as to whether the source of the image is friend or foe.
Previous training efforts have used a number of concepts ranging from the source itself as a target to pyrotechnic devices emulating the thermal image. With the increasing cost of practice ranges and full scale targets, miniaturization and modeling of the target area are most advantageous.
The present invention meets the needs of the armed services by providing an economical training system which can give a battlefield scenario within a limited, room size, space while providing a qualitative measure of a trainee's performance to an instructor.